Your air conditioner removes heat from your home. So any time you let heat back in, you’re making it work harder than it needs to. Here are some tips to keep the hot air outside.

Keep windows and doors shut. When you’re leaving, quickly walk through the door and shut it behind you. And it should go without saying that your windows should be closed, also.
Block out the sun. A lot of heat makes its way into your home through your windows. Keep it out by using solar screens and heavy-duty curtains.
Seal air leaks. The areas in your home that are air conditioned should be as air-tight as possible. Take a look in your crawlspace, basement or attic for major air holes like these in the building envelope.
Try some no-cook meals. Your stove and oven create a lot of heat in your home. Try some no-cook meals and use your microwave instead of your oven.

Step 2: Make your air conditioner’s life easier

Next, you need to make sure your air conditioner is operating as efficiently as it can so that it can get you as much cool air as possible. That means:

Change the air filter. Too many homeowners leave their air filter in their AC way too long. This blocks air flow and basically suffocates your air conditioner.
Fix leaky and disconnected ducts. It’s possible that your ducts lose 30% of the air traveling through them because of leaks and other problems. So instead of cooling your home, that air is cooling your attic or other unconditioned space.
Clear the space around your outside unit. Tall weeds, shrubs, bushes and debris around your outside air conditioning unit decreases airflow, making it difficult for the unit to ‘dump’ the heat from your home.
Get the AC professionally cleaned. If the coils in your air conditioner get dirty, they can make it more difficult for your air conditioner to cool your home. It’s one of the reasons most manufacturers recommend an annual AC tune-up.
Open up ALL the vents. Don’t close vents in unused rooms. Closing vents to lower energy bills is dated advice that should be ignored.

3D Air Services proudly serves Birmingham, Hoover, Pelham, Alabaster, Calera and everywhere on between. For questions call is at (205)664-3501 or email us at service@3dairserve.com

Although it doesn’t yet feel like it outside, the heating season has begun here at 3D Air Services. That’s because we have started performing furnace tune-ups for our clients in order to get their homes ready for the upcoming heating season. Scheduling an annual furnace tune-up is essential for every home, even if you didn’t encounter any problems with your system last year. Today we’re going to explain why annual professional maintenance is so important for your family and your home by talking about six benefits of getting a furnace tune-up from 3D Air Services!

6 benefits of getting a furnace tune-up from 3D Air Services.

It will ensure your furnace will operate safely. This benefit alone is reason enough to schedule a tune-up every year. Your furnace burns natural gas to produce heat, which means your home can be a safety hazard if your system is malfunctioning. During a tune-up, we’ll perform a full safety inspection and fix problems that might lead to safety issues down the line, such as carbon monoxide leaks and fire hazards.
It will keep your system’s warranty intact. Most furnace warranties require you to have an annual tune-up performed on your system in order for the warranty to remain valid. That’s because furnace manufacturers understand how important annual tune-ups are to the performance and longevity of your system.
It will save money on your heating bills. Many of the tasks that we perform during your furnace tune-up will increase the efficiency of your system. This means that your heating bills this winter will be much lower than they would have been if you skipped out on a tune-up.
It will dramatically reduce the chance of your heat going out. If the heat goes out in your home in the middle of winter, your house will be extremely cold and it could put some of your family members in danger. Furnace tune-ups are as much about preventing future problems as they are about fixing existing problems, which is why a tune-up will make it unlikely that your home will be left without heat at any point this winter.
It will avoid the need for repairs that could have been prevented. Furnaces that don’t have annual tune-ups are much more likely to experience performance problems or completely break down during winter. Not only would this be an inconvenience for you, but it would also force you to spend money on repairs that likely could have been prevented during a tune-up. The small amount of money you spend on a tune-up will greatly reduce the likelihood that you’ll have to spend money on repairs down the road.
It will prevent long-term damage to your system. Scheduling annual tune-ups is one of the best ways to extend the life of your furnace. That’s because we perform tasks like cleaning your system, lubricating moving parts and checking connections that will keep all of your system’s parts in good working condition.

For any other questions call us at 664-3501 or email us at service@3dairserve.com

If you want to heat your home without breaking the bank, it takes more than just a high efficiency furnace. Although having an efficient furnace is a great start, there are a number of other factors that influence the efficiency of your home. Below are five factors that can decrease the efficiency of your furnace and what you can do to avoid them.

5 factors that affect furnace efficiency
Lack of maintenance. If you don’t have annual maintenance performed on your furnace, it can become inefficient, unreliable and a safety hazard to your home. Homeowners who skip out on their annual tune-ups often experience increasingly high energy bills as the years go on. With annual maintenance, your furnace will be brought back up to its peak efficiency and consume less energy all winter long.
Dirty filters. When dirt and other airborne particles build up on your filter, it makes it much harder for your furnace to push air through your system. To make up for the blockage in airflow, your furnace works harder and consumes more energy. Make sure to change your filters regularly, especially this time of year when our fur naces are running consistently and particles build up on our filters quickly.
High thermostat settings. It is common knowledge that the higher you set your thermostat temperature, the more energy your furnace will consume. As we wrote previously in this blog, you don’t have to sacrifice comfort to save energy with your thermostat. Simply find the lowest settings you’re comfortable with and stick to an energy-saving schedule for your home temperatures throughout the week.
Not enough insulation. Insulation acts as a protective barrier between your home’s conditioned and unconditioned spaces. Without enough insulation, your home will have a hard time containing heat and your furnace will have to consume more energy to make up for it. Make sure your home is insulated to the proper R-value to avoid losing energy.
Air leaks. Warm air naturally travels toward colder temperatures. If you have air leaks in your home during winter, the warm air that your furnace produces will escape outside. Again, this will force your furnace to work harder and lead to a spike in your energy bills. Check for air leaks in your home and seal up any problem areas that you find.

For any other questions call 3D Air Services at 664-3501 or email us at service@3dairserve.com

Are you in the market for a new furnace? This can be quite a daunting process! There are many different furnaces to choose from, and the system you select (as well as the contractor you work with for the installation) can have a big impact on your home’s comfort and efficiency levels for years to come. Today we’re going to make the process a little easier by talking about some of the biggest furnace buying mistakes you can make and help you select the perfect heating system for your home!

4 big furnace buying mistakes to avoid when you’re in the market for a new system

Working with a low-cost, low-quality contractor. In many ways, choosing the right contractor is the most important part of buying a new furnace. There are low-quality contractors out there who will try to offer extremely low installation prices just to get your business, only to perform the installation poorly or install a system that isn’t sized right for your home. The mistakes that a bad contractor can make during a furnace installation will end up costing you a whole lot of money in the form of future repair costs and high heating bills. A high-quality contractor like 3D Air Services will match your home with the perfect heating system and perform the installation the right way so that your system will operate at its peak efficiency and performance levels.
Focusing on price alone. Another big mistake that some homeowners make is focusing too much on the initial price of the furnace that they choose. Although high-efficiency furnaces cost more up-front than mid-efficiency systems, a furnace with a high AFUE rating will save you money in the long run because it will result in lowering monthly heating bills for years to come. We know that the up-front cost of a furnace is important, but it should not be the only factor you consider when choosing a system.
Not thinking about fuel-type. Furnaces can use a variety of different heat sources, including natural gas, electricity and oil. Unless you install a heat pump, which is a highly-efficient electricity-powered heating system, the most efficient heat source for furnaces is natural gas. If your current furnace is not gas-powered, you should consider replacing it with one that is because natural gas is the least expensive heat source.
Not considering signing up for a maintenance agreement. You will spend good money on your new furnace, so it’s important to take good care of it throughout its operating life. One of the best ways to do that is by signing up for an HVAC maintenance agreement. 3D Air Services maintenance clubs include annual tune-ups for your furnace, in addition to other great time- and money-saving benefits. Signing up for a maintenance agreement will maximize your investment in your new system and ensure that it runs great for years to come.

For any other questions call 3D Air Services at 664-3501 or email us at service@3dairserve.com